The biggest living things
The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived—bigger than
an elephant, bigger than the biggest dinosaur. But even the blue whale
isn’t the largest living thing on earth. Trees are. And the largest of
all trees are the redwoods and giant sequoias that grow in California.
The tallest trees in the world are the California redwoods. Most of them
are more than 300 feet (90 meters) high— about as tall as a 30-story
building. The tallest known redwood is almost 370 feet (113 meters)
high!
The giant sequoias are not as tall as the redwoods, but their trunks are
much thicker. One big sequoia is called the General Sherman, after a
famous soldier. The tree is 272 feet (83 meters) high. The widest part
of its trunk is more than 100 feet (30 meters) around and more than 36
feet (11 meters) across. A big crowd of people could hide behind this
tree!
redwood trees
sequoia trees
